It is well known that a length of string is useful for cleaning portions of teeth not readily accessible to brushing. This string is commonly referred to as dental floss (or just floss) and the use of floss is referred to as flossing. Dental floss is commonly a loosely twisted polymer-based string, which may be flattened into a band. It is fairly fine in gauge, with the cross-sectional dimensions of a band being on the order of 0.01 inches in thickness by 0.03 inches in width. It is sometimes impregnated or coated with a resin or wax.
A common way of using floss is to cut a piece one to two feet in length, hold one end in each hand, and use the fingers to guide the floss between and around the teeth. The ends are often wrapped snugly around one or more fingers in order to obtain a firm grasp of the ends. While this is simple and provides good control of the floss, it can aslo be difficult to hold the ends of the floss so that it does not slip from the hand during use. Furthermore, the fine gauge floss, which permits access to the spaces between teeth, tends to cut into the fingers and hand when it is held under tension. These problems are exacerated because the user's hands are often wet during flossing, which makes the user's hands slippery and the user's skin less tough than when dry.